If you look closely at the 1918 picture above, this may be a Peerless-Studebaker car dealer (there's a big sign I think spells out PEERLESS, and a small logo which looks like the Studebaker logo in the window). At one time, car dealerships didn't have to be very big to carry a brand or even order a lot of cars. By coincidence, I did a drawing based on the same photograph fifteen years ago, but with a newer car in the showroom: a 1927 Mod. "Eight-69". Not only is there one of the big V-8-engined Boat Tails from the thirteen-year run of these "V-Type 8" engines, the whole product line and price range is displayed. I make up letterhead stationery using illustrations like this.
The Model 56 Roadster as shown in the brochure.
Fascinating body style. Great that you could dig up an image of it, A.J. This would be the 1917 equivalent of having a supercharged Avanti or a Shelby GT 350...a pretty hairy car right out of the factory. I have heard rumors of someone in CA with an original, and there are 3 or 4 Peerless speedsters of one kind or another that have been created from the V-8 Peerless platform.
@Peerless28 Jeff, so maybe only a single car still exists?
@alsancle I did some detective work and found that there was a PMCC Member in Plymouth, California who knew where one was and had been trying to buy it for 20 years. He said it is "a 1920 Gentleman's Roadster in a 15-car collection in very good original condition". So that's a lead, not a car yet.
@Peerless28 Jeff, how many years ago? That would be great find. On par with a Gold Bug, and better since it would be the only one.
@alsancle ...it was a note sent to the Club Membership Chairman in 2014 with dues. No idea who the other collector was, if car is still there. Also possible it was just a standard Mod. "56" Peerless Roadster @ $2,900 new. Going to my less-than-definitive K.P.A.I.E. registry of all Peerlesses worldwide, we have:
.......... eight 1920s
..........one 7-Passenger Sedan Limo/NY
..........one 7-P Sedan/the TN museum car(also in the "Marketplace" section here)
..........one 7-P Touring Car/OH
..........one wrecker made from 7-P Touring/WI
..........one open car/ in the U.K.
..........two 4-P Cloverleaf Roadsters/OH & IA (see blue one in "Gallery" & "Gathering of Peerless Owners")
.......... one 1920 Roadster/Sutter Creek, CA/Edward Swift/source: the 2007 PMCC Roster
There's something to this. Plymouth and Sutter Creek are in the same California county, Amador. Looking up the name of the last entry, unfortunately, comes up with an obit for Edward Allen Swift, who died at age 92, February 1, 2021. Included was this comment:
"Edward was a car enthusiast and collected, restored, and operated antique autos, trucks, and equipment, often showcasing them in the Italian Picnic Parade."
@Peerless28 Perhaps it will turn up at some point.
